Guiding arrangement for securing a picking stick on a weaving loom



1, 1967 H. ZOLLINGER ETAL. 3,333,606

GUIDING ARRANGEMENT FOR SECURING A PICKING STICK ON A WEAVING LOOM Filed April 26, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 g-1 1967 H. ZOLLINGER ETAL 3,333,606

GUIDING ARRANGEMENT FOR SECURING A PICKING STICK ON A WEAVING LOOM Filed April 26, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet H. ZOLLINGER ETAL 3,333,606 GUIDING ARRANGEMENT FOR SECURING A PICKING Aug. 1, 1967 STICK ON A WEAVING LOOM Flled Aprll 26, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 H. ZOLLINGER ETAL 3,333,606 GUIDING ARRANGEMENT FOR SECURING A PICKING Aug. 1, 1967 STICK ON A WBAVING LOOM Filed April 26, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent 3,333,606 GUIDING ARRANGEMENT FOR SECURING A PICKING STICK ON A WEAVING LOOM Hans Zollinger, Ruti, Zurich, and Friedrich Lutz, Dumten, Zurich, Switzerland, assignors to Ruti Machinery Works, Ltd., Ruti, Zurich, Switzerland, a corporation of Switzerland Filed Apr. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 450,607 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Apr. 30, 1964, 5,669/64 13 Claims. (Cl. 139-149) V The present invention relates to a guiding arrangement for securing a picking stick of a weaving loom and, in particular, to novel guiding arrangements for rectilinearly guiding the picker and coupling the picking stick to the sley frame.

It is known, in weaving looms, to provide picking stick guiding arrangements having means for guiding the movement of the picker arranged at the upper end of the picking stick in such manner that the picker describes a practically rectilinear, horizontal path during the time it is in contact with the shuttle. The picker serves not only for driving the shuttle through the weaving shed but also for catching the shuttle driven on the other loom side.

Many devices of this kind have the disadvantage that, especially during the catching of the shuttle by the picker, undesirable oscillations are set up along the picking stick. These oscillations have an effect which is such that the rest position of the shuttle becomes irregular, that is, the shuttle when braked does not always remain in exactly the same place in its rest position. This again is the cause of irregular travel of the shuttle and has furthermore disadvantageous efiects during automatic bobbin changing.

It is the object of the present invention to obviate these disadvantages by providing securing means, in the zone of 3 the lower guide arrangement, having an intermediate space permitting a movement of the lower end of the picking stick perpendicularly with respect to the axis of the picking stick and a resilient means providing pre-tension or bias in such manner that, in the rest position of the picking stick, the intermediate space is so positioned that a movement of the lower end of the picking stick in the direction towards the interior of the weaving loom is able to take place, Whereas the coupling between the picking stick and the sley frame in the opposite direction is rigid.

Thus, the invention has the advantage that the shuttle is, practically speaking, no longer pushed by the picker after the braking step of the shuttle has been terminated.

Embodiments of the invention will now be discussed in greater detail in the following description, given with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1a shows an elevation (partly in section) of a picking stick securing arrangement according to the invention;

FIGURE 1b shows a section along the line I-I of FIG- URE la;

FIGURE 2a shows a further embodiment of the picking stick securing arrangement according to the invention;

FIGURE 2b shows a section along the line II-]1 of FIGURE 2a;

FIGURE 2c shows a further modification of the embodiment of the picking stick securing arrangement shown in FIGURE 2a;

FIGURE 2d shows a section taken along line 111-111 of FIGURE 20; and

FIGURE 3 shows a further embodiment of the present invention.

In addition to the picking stick securing arrangement according to the invention, FIGURE also shows further parts of the weaving loom to the extent necessary for understanding the invention. The picking stick 11 is pc- 3,333,606 Patented Aug. 1, 1967 riodically urged towards the right by a strap 12 retained in its horizontal position by the carrier part 13. By this means, the shuttle 14 is driven, through the agency of the picker 15 secured on the upper end of the picking stick 11, over the sley 16 and through the open shed (not shown) on to the right-hand side of the weaving 10111 from which, after the shed change, it is again urged back. The returning shuttle 14 is taken up by the picker 15 and the picking stick 11 on which it impinges at high velocity. As it does so, the picking stick impinges on the resilient receiving member 17.

The picking stick 11 is so guided during its reciprocating movement by means of the guide member or body 18 and the upper and lower guide arrangements comprising the guide or link arms 19 and 20, respectively, that the picker 15 moves practically parallel to the sley 16, at least during the time in which it is in contact with the shuttle 14.

The guide member 18 is secured to the picking stick 11 by means of a bolt 29, and is carried by the guide arms 19 and 20. The guide arm 19 is pivotally secured on pivots 21 and 22, and is coupled with the guide member 18 by means of the pivot 21. The pivot 22 is secured at a retaining point 23 of the sley frame which is reciprocated with the sley. The two-part guide arm 20 is also rotatably coupled by means of a pivot 24 with the guide member 18 and by means of the pivot 25 with the retaining point 66 of the sley frame moving with the sley.

Formed in the guide member 18 is a slot having the shape of a rectangular aperture 26. As shown in FIGURES 1a and lb, a slide body or member 27 is disposed within the aperture. The dimensioning of the slide body and the aperture allows for movement of the slide body 27 relatively to the aperture 26 by providing clearance between the two, that is, an intermediate space 28. The slide member 27 is pivotally retained on the two-part guide arm 20 'by means of pivot pin 24. In order to facilitate understanding of the invention, this part of the device is also shown in FIGURE 1b.

Directly before the arrival of the returning shuttle 14, the picking stick 11 is in the position shown in FIGURE 1a. The shuttle 14 impinging on the picker 15 of the picking stick 11 is braked, in that the rearward movement imparted to the picking stick '11 by the shuttle 14 is halted at the receiving member 17. It is found, with many of the conventionally known weaving looms, that after the picker 15 and the shuttle 14 have come to a complete standstill, there is set up in the upper portion of the picking stick a further movement, due to which the shuttle 14 is again moved away out of its rest position which it has already adopted. Consequently, the final rest position of the shuttle becomes undefined.

According to the present invention, this disadvantage is overcome by the provision of the coupling between the aperture 26 and the slide member 27 having the intermediate space 28. It appears that the detrimental further movement results from oscillations of the picking stick 11 due to the impinging of the shuttle 14 on the picker 15. If the connection between the lower end of the picking stick and the sley support (for example, the retaining point 66) is non-resilient, the oscillations are reflected" at the lower end of the picking stick and bring about the subsequent further movement of the picker 15 and shuttle 14. Due to the provision of an arrangement permitting controlled movement of the lower end of the picking stick perpendicularly with respect to the picking stick axis 110, the reflections of these oscillations are obviated and the uniformity in the inoperative position of the shuttle is very considerably improved.

Provided in the pivot 22 is a torsion spring permanently exerting a pivoting force in the direction of the arrow A. By this means, the picking stick 11 is, at, the

point of the pivot 21, pressed outwardly, that is, obliquely towards the left and upwardly. Since the picking stick (in its position illustrated in FIGURE 1a) that is, before the arrival of the shuttle 14 from the right, impinges at its upper portion against take-up strap 30, the clearance or intermediate space 28 is to the left-hand side of the aperture 26, as shown in FIGURE 10. The take-up strap 30 is carried by guide 61. As already mentioned, during the impinging of the shuttle 14, there appears to be set up a downwardly propagated oscillation imparting to the lower part of the picking stick and the guide member 18 a first movement directed towards the right. Since this movement is quite readily possible due to the intermediate space 28, there is no reflection or at most only an extremely weak reflection of this oscillation. Then, the shuttle 14 moves, together with the upper part of the picking stick 11, towards the left until the latter comes to a standstill at the receiving member 17. In this working position, under -the influence of the guide arm 19 pressed in the direction A, the intermediate space or clearance 28 between the slide member 27 and the aperture 26 is again formed on the left-hand side of these parts.

During the next pick of the shuttle produced by the strap 12, at the very first instant, the left-hand edge of the aperture 26 travels through the clearance 28 or the intermediate space 28 disposed towards the left between the aperture 26 and the slide member 27. This is followed by the movement of the guide arms 19 and 20 directing the rectilinear guiding of the picker 15. Since the slide member 27 bears against the upper and lower edge of the aperture 26 and since the picking stick 11 is vertical (or perpendicular) at the instant of the detachment of the shuttle 14 form the picker 15, it will be clear that, due to the clearance 28, no deviation of the shuttle can take place out of its horizontal path of movement, i.e. there will be no disadvantageous influence of the clearance 28 on the parallel guiding of the picker.

The possibility for rotary movement of the slide member 27 about the pivot 24 is provided in order to give due consideration to the alternating angular position between the guide member 18 and the guide or link arm 20.

The embodiment according to FIGURES 2a and 2b again has a picking stick 11 with a guide member 18 selcured thereto by securing means 29. The guide or link arm 19 is coupled by means of the pivots 21 and 22 with the guide member 18 and with a part 23 of the sley support respectively. The lower part of the guide arrangement comprises conically shaped members 31 and 31' secured on the guide member 18 in such manner as to be rotatable about a pivot pin 32. In order to make this arrangement more readily comprehensible, FIGURE 2b shows a section taken along the line II-II of FIGURE 2a. Correspondingly comically-shaped boundary arrangements for the guiding of the conical members 31 and 31 are formed by the jaws 34, 35 and 34, 35, respectively, disposed on the two-part rod 33. The other end of the rod 33 is secured to sley frame part 66. A torsion spring 80 disposed on the pivot 22 operates to rotate the arm 19 in the direction of arrow A.

In operation, in the working phase directly before the arrival of the shuttle, there is an intermediate space 36 forming a clearance or play between members 31 and 31' and the lateral jaws 35 and 35, respectively. When the shuttle impinges on the picker, the oscillation resulting therefrom moves downwardly along the picking stick 11, thus causing a movement towards the right of the lower end of the picking stick and of the guide member 18 connected therewith, together with the members 31 and 31' connected therewith via the pivot pin 32. By this means, a reflection of this oscillation at the lower end of the picking stick is avoided or at least considerably damped. In the following rest position of the picking stick and the shuttle under the influence of the torsion spring disposed on the pivot 22, the intermediate space 36 is again formed on the side of the jaws 35 and 35.

described clearance 36 can 2a, with the difference that the During the next shuttle pick, the sliding member 31 again travels first of all through the intermediate space 36. Directly thereafter, the movement of the guide arm 19 providing for the rectilinear guiding of the picker commences. This movement is a rotation of the arm 19 in the direction opposite to that of the arrow A. Consequently, the guide member 18 descends with the member 31 secured to it. The play 36 is so adjusted that the conical members 31 and 31' are, at the instant at which their movement reaches the lowest point, in a snug fit between the jaws 34 and 35 and the jaws 34' and 35', respectively. The rotation possibility of the members 31 and 31 about the pivot 32 permits a mode of operation with alternating angular positions between the picking stick 11 and the guide member 18 relatively to the rod 33 fast on the sley member 66. At the instant at which the picking stick stands vertically, that is, at the instant at which the shuttle leaves the picker, there is therefore no clearance between the member 31 (and the corresponding member 31') and the guide jaws 34 and 35 (and the corresponding jaws 34 and 35), so that at this instant the abovehave no influence on the movement of the picker of the picking stick during the detachment of the shuttle.

In the embodiment according to FIGURE la, in a specific zone of the picking stick on both sides of its vertical position, due to the horizontal sliding of the member 26, any detrimental influence of the clearance 28 on the parallel guiding of the picking stick is eliminated. The same applies to the embodiment according to FIGURE cancellation of the clearance due to the snug fit of the conical member 31 widens this zone on both sides of the vertical picking stick position.

The members 31 and 31' shown in FIGURE 2a need not necessarily be conical. As shown in FIGURES 2c and 2d, the members 31 and 31 may be replaced by a member 70 having the shape of a cylinder, the pivot of which (such as the pivot 32) extends perpendicularly with respect to the plane defined by the picking stick movement. Furthermore, cylindrical member 70 need not necessarily be rotatable about its axis but may be disposed rigidly on the guide body 18. It is self-evident that the diameter of a cylindrical member of this kind will, in analogy to the conical member 31, be so dimensioned and arranged that it is disposed closely between the jaws 34 and 35 in the lowermost point of its movement, thus providing a zone in which detrimental movement influences on the shuttle during the shuttle pick are avoided.

The embodiment according to FIGURE 3 again provides a picking stick 11 which is periodically thrown towards the right by the strap 12 in order to drive the shuttle. During this movement, the picking stick is again guided by means of the guide arrangement comprising the guide arms or links 19 and 41. This arrangement carries the guide member 18, a torsion spring so disposed on the pivot 22 again pre-tensioning the link 19 in the direction of the arrow A. The link or arm 41 is pivotally mounted by means of the pivot 42 on the guide member 18 and the pivot 43 on the retaining member 44 fast with the sley frame.

A carrier member 46 is clamped fast with the picking stick 11 by means of screws 45. The carrier member is connected with the guide member 18 for pivoting about the pivot 47. Consequently, when the picking stick 11 rotates clockwise, a gap or clearance 48 is formed between the picking stick 11 and the guide member 18. An intermediate member 49, which may be made of leather, is secured on the guide body 18 for exerting a damping efiect.

A band 50 is also secured at one of its ends to the carrier member 46 and at its other end to a cylinder 52 rotatable about the pivot pin 51. The cylinder 52 is so pre-tensioned by a spring 81 (not shown) that it endeavors to rotate in the direction of the arrow -B and thereby to displace the lower end of the picking stick into abutment with the intermediate member 49. In the position illustrated in FIGURE 3, the cam 53 secured to the cylinder 52 impinges against abutment 54 so that the effect of the spring acting in the direction B is cancelled out. Thus, the clearance 48 is able to form, in the the position of the arrangement illustrated in FIGURE 3, due to the tension of the spring acting in direction A.

In a manner similar to that already described with reference to FIGURES la and 2a, on impingement of the shuttle 14 on the picker 15, there is set up along the picking stick 11 an oscillation which, if it is reflected at the lower end of the picking stick, causes a movement of the picker 15 which again displaces the shuttle 14 which is already in its rest position. In this embodiment shown in FIGURE 3, this disadvantageous effect is obviated by the provision of the gap or clearance 48.

When the shuttle 14 is picked by a pull on the strap 12, the intermediate space or gap 48 is first of all closed and then, due to the picking stick movement, there is a pull on the band 50, so that the cam 53 is lifted off from the abutment 54. Consequently, by means of the pretension or bias effective in direction B, the intermediate space 48 is kept continuously closed, also during the working phase, during which the acceleration of the pick ing stick ceases and the shuttle 14 is detaching from the picker 15. This eliminates any kind of deviation from rectilinear guiding, which could be caused by the existence of the clearance 45 and might detrimentally influence the straight travel of the shuttle 14. The special advantage of this device, illustrated in FIGURE 3, consists in that, in the rest position of the picking stick 11 before the impinging of the shuttle 14 coming from the right, the picker 15 is disposed vertically over the pivot point 47 of the picking stick, as indicated by the broken line 55, so that the picker moves exactly horizontally towards the left, despite the clearance 48.

In contradistinction to this arrangement, due to the play provided with the embodiments illustrated in FIG- URES 1a and 20, there is a small upward and downward movement of the picker during the impingement of the shuttle. With this insignificant disadvantage, however, there is associated, in the embodiments according to FIGURES 1a and 2a, the advantage of greater structual simplicity.

While the novel features of the invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the appended claims, it is to be understood that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in construction and arrangement of the features shown and described may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a weaving loom having upper and lower guiding arrangements for horizontally guiding a picker secured to the upper end of a picking stick for driving and for catching a shuttle and for coupling the picking stick with a sley frame, the improvement which comprises a securing means located adjacent to the lower guiding arrangement, said securing means providing an intermediate space that permits a movement of the lower end of the picking stick perpendicularly with respect to its longitudinal axis, and a resilient means secured to the upper guiding arrangement for providing a pretension which is such that in the rest position of the picking stick the intermediate space ispositioned to allow movement of the lower end of the picking stick in a direction towards the center of the weaving loom when the picker is impinged on by the shuttle whereby reflections of oscillations tending to occur along the longitudinal axis of the picking stick are substantially prevented and said securing means providing a coupling between the picking stick and the sley frame which is substantially rigid in the op posite direction.

2. The weaving loom of claim 1 in which said securing means comprises a member which forms part of the lower guiding arrangement and which is disposed between two parts of the weaving loom, said parts being the lower end of the picking stick and a retaining point which is secured to the sley frame and said member providing said intermediate space between two boundary arrangements, said member being supported by one of the two parts of the weaving loom and the boundary arrangement being supported by the other of said parts.

3. The weaving loom of claim 2 in which the member is coupled to a guide body secured to the lower end of the picking stick and the two boundary arrangements are formed by upwardly opening, conically arranged faces firmly secured to the sley frame.

4. The weaving loom of claim 1 in which the upper guiding arrangement comprises a guiding arm which is pressed outwardly relative to the weaving loom in a clockwise direction by said resilient means.

5. The weaving loom of claim 2 in which the member is pivotally mounted on a pivot arranged perpendicularly with respect to the plane of movement of the picking stick.

6. The weaving loom of claim 2 in which the boundary arrangements are formed by two oppositely positioned sides of a slot in which the member is displaceably arranged, said slot being formed in a guide body secured to the lower end of said picking stick.

7. The weaving loom of claim 6 in which the weaving loom has a shuttle and the other sides of the slot along which the member is displaceable extend at least substantially horizontally in the position of the picking stick at which the shuttle leaves the picker.

8. The weaving loom of claim 3 in which the member is also conically shaped and is so dimensioned and arranged that, at the lowest point of its movement, it is in a snug fit between the two boundary arrangements.

9. The weaving loom of claim 3 in which the member is cylindrically shaped and is so dimensioned and arranged that, at the lowerst point of its movement, it is in a snug fit between the two boundary arrangements.

10. In a weaving loom having upper and lower guiding arrangements for horizontally guiding a picker secured to the upper end of a picking stick for driving and for catching a shuttle and for coupling the picking stick with the sley frame, the improvement which comprises a securing means located adjacent to the lower guiding arrangement, said securing means providing an intermediate space that permits a movement of the lower end of the picking stick perpendicularly with respect to its longitudinal axis, and a resilient meanssecured to the upper guiding arrangement for providing a pretension which is such that in the rest position of the picking stick the intermediate space is positioned to allow movement of the lower end of the picking stick in a direction towards the center of the weaving loom when the picker is impinged on by the shuttle whereby reflections of oscillations tending to occur along the longitudinal axis of the picking 'stick are substantially prevented and said securing means providing a coupling between the picking stick and the sley frame which is substantially rigid in the opposite direction; said securing means comprising a guide member pivotally supported by the upper and lower guiding arrangements and coupled to the picking stick, said intermediate space being provided between the lower end of the picking stick and the lower part of the guide member and said guide member being pivotal between two end positions about a pivot secured to the picking stick that extends perpendicularly with respect to the plane defined by movement of the picking stick towards and away from the center of the weaving loom.

11. The weaving loom of claim 10 which one of the end positions is provided by the position of the guide member bearing against the lower end of the picking stick and the other end position is provided by the position adopted by the guide member under the influence of a second resilient means; said second resilient means endeavoring on the one hand to close the intermediate space and having on the other hand its efiect eliminated by a retaining member effective in the rest position of the picking stick whereby said intermediate space is maintained.

12. The weaving loom of claim 11 in which the lower end of said picking stick is connected to said second resilient means by means of a band, said second resilient means comprising a rotatable cylinder coupled with the 10 sley frame and a spring tensioning means positioned on said cylinder adapted to hold said band under tension, said cylinder having a cam that bears, in the rest position of the picking stick, against an abutment on said lower guide arrangement thereby maintaining a tension on said band which tends to prevent enlargement of said intermediate space.

13. The weaving loom of claim 10 in which the pivot is disposed at least substantially perpendicularly below the front end of the picker in the rest position of the free picking stick.

5 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 165,408 7/1875 Collins 139-149 1,930,080 10/1933 Bentley et al. 139149 FOREIGN PATENTS 910,081 11/1962 Great Britain. 922 of 1885 Great Britain. 213,882 7/ 1941 Switzerland.

15 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

J. KEE CHI, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A WEAVING LOOM HAVING UPPER AND LOWER GUIDING ARRANGEMENTS FOR HORIZONTALLY GUIDING A PICKER SECURED TO THE UPPER END OF A PICKING STICK FOR DRIVING AND FOR CATCHING A SHUTTLE AND FOR COUPLING THE PICKING STICK WITH A SLEY FRAME, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES A SECURING MEANS LOCATED ADJACENT TO THE LOWER GUIDING ARRANGEMENT, SAID SECURING MEANS PROVIDING AN INTERMEDIATE SPACE THAT PERMITS A MOVEMENT OF THE LOWER END OF THE PICKING STICK PERPENDICULARLY WITH RESPECT TO ITS LONGITUDINAL AXIS, AND A RESILIENT MEANS SECURED TO THE UPPER GUIDING ARRANGEMENT FOR PROVIDING A PRETENSION WHICH IS SUCH THAT IN THE REST POSITION OF THE PICKING STICK THE INTERMEDIATE SPACE IS POSITIONED TO ALLOW MOVEMENT OF THE LOWER END OF THE PICKING STICK IN A DIRECTION TOWARDS THE CENTER OF THE WEAVING LOOM WHEN THE PICKER IS IM- 